Cats recognise their owners' voices but never evolved to care

[mabar]

thanks, mabar, I loved reading that. Some cats love to torment certain people - usually people they know don't understand them so are at a disadvantage.

Was it Ghandi who said you can know a nation by the way it treats its animals? I think that works in some way for individuals - cats and dogs act as mirrors. What we like and don't like about them reveals parts of us to ourselves. Another mind-shattering revelation from yours truly. I'm obviously flowing tonight

It was thinking, about that short interaction I had with that cat in relationship of what you wrote above, cats/dogs acting as a mirror, revealing part of ourselves. And from Buddy's story, by the way thanks for sharing your story Buddy.

That particular cat, was named similar to my name, my cousins/aunt, choose that name because they thought it was as strange as me, so they said (it was their first time they have a cat, used to have dogs before ---in that part of the family, I am weird--- ) I supposed that it might had happened that –being from similar poles, it(the cat) might had been curious of my being. And I act/behaved as usually I do, when someone wants to approach myself being cat or person, I see them with suspicion, mistrust … now that I think of it, another issue I need to work with, I get too aware when someone wants to be near me, what would be their interest? … yes, another residuary from my lack of self steem.

until …one morning I walked out the back door and found a dead mouse right in my path. It was a gift from the cat, believe it or not, because they will do that sometimes.

Dogs do that too!! … of course, that time, it was not a mouse, it was a little kitten. A gift that I did not appreciated that much. But it was still her effort. Luna, my sister's dalmatian dog –that already passed away- was around 9 months old, she was still too young and was afraid of the “wild cat queen of the cat gang of the neighborhood”, that cat made her visiting to our garden continuously, and Luna was overpowered by her wild attitude? … so then, one night, I was at my parent's studio that leads to the garden, I was reading and Luna was with me, in a moment she went out (we used to have German shepherd dog before, that were fed with meat and bones, the bones ended in the garden, buried by Drago (was his name) and Luna, every once and then, liked to removed it and chew them again. Another thing to mention is, that the wild cat queen was keeping her little kittens in one place of our garden –we did not know where until that night, though-.

I thought Luna was gnawing an old bone at the garden but I started listening kitten like noises from the same place, and I was curious and went to investigate. For the love of the preeep!!! Luna was gnawing a little kitten that happened to fall from a ceramic decorative flagon that was on a second floor frieze at the exterior of the house (unreachable without a ladder).

And since I could not make Luna let go of the little kitten and I went to bring her owner, my sister, in order to stop this massacre. But no!, my sister encourage Luna to keep going, in my sister's view, she found good to Luna overcome her fears with the little kitten, that way she (Luna) would overcome her greatest fear: the wild cat queen mother. I did not want to stay there, I went upstairs to the dinning room of the kitchen, that leads also to the garden from another floor.

Like a nightmare, I kept hearing pitiful noises of the little kitten and hearing them coming every time nearer. My surprise!! Luna brought me the ---I really hoped--- death kitten, as a gift –I supposed. Luna, being Dalmatian … having hunter instincts.

And yes, she learned!! The wild cat queen was not around anymore, she was quite useful with rodents, and quite a nightmare to birds and chickens though.

voyageur, with that video you posted, I wanted to have a pet!! too bad I can't. Cats/dogs are marvelous companions. Thanks for posting it.

 

[cubbie]

Fascinating. I had always thought cats are unique and independent on their own and does not require much attention, sparing energy from owners. They seem to have their own "attitudes".

My neighbor's Korat cat is extremely intelligent that whenever she roams the condominium, going up and down the floors by elevators or the stairs, she will still be able to head back home. She's now known as our condo's kitty because she goes house-patrolling and visits units she is interested in. We would usually let her in and she would do her thing, spot-check everything, sniffing, and sometimes proving useful by catching lizards for us. The same neighbor owns another cat which does not belong to any breed, just a normal kitty and their level of smarts is stark. This cat even though likes to explore, she does not seem to be able to find its way home. Just last week she was lost at my floor meowing for help and I had to carry her back to my neighbor.

Also, the Korat kitty recognizes her own name, and words like yes, no, come, car, fish, prawn and chicken. She likes a variety of fresh food and according to the owner, has her 'seasons' in preferring certain types of fish too. She would rather not eat when she requests for fish but instead gets chicken. Attitudes! :D

 

[Iron]

I always wondered why cat people like to chase love from their pets. I wonder what is the emotional payoff of being always caring to a being that does not give much in return.

 

[griffin]

I disagree that cats are inherently aloof and don't care about the people they adopt to care for them. I think sometimes they just choose any port in a storm, and make the best of it, or some might observe people and choose those who notice and feed them. But if their needs aren't met (basically, food and water) or if they are not treated with minimal respect, they'll leave, find another household, or go feral.

The author might be right that cats domesticated themselves, on their own terms, but they are also realists. They trade their skills with the people they adopt, to their mutual benefit, and they become attached.

Farmers have barn cats, and the smart ones provide a dry place, and even keep it warm for them in winters, and in return the cats keep the rodents from destroying the farmers' stored grain and seeds.

House cats present their owners with mice to show they're earning their keep, and they are excellent sentries. Should someone approach their house, they will run inside, assuming they have a cat door, warning the owners, although some might head into a garage or barn instead. But still, if you are observant, you'll see it. I have cats, and I don't think that anyone can sneak up on me in my house, at least not when we're awake.

Cats are out for themselves, but they also get attached to the people who care for them, and they express that by trading the pleasure of their company for clumsy human attempts to groom them, scratch their heads, behind their ears, their cheeks and under their chins. In return they sleep next to your head or by your feet in bed, jump on your desk and creep into your arms, curl up between you and your keyboard, and complain if you don't give them the respectful attention they demand.

I think cats long ago figured out that people need to love, and they decided to take advantage of it.

It's actually not a bad deal.

 

[whitecoast]

I found an interesting video on youtube - in it an experiment is conducted that compares the attachment patterns of adult parents/owners to human children, dogs, and cats.

http://<iframe width="560" height="...t8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

They found that, while children and dogs expressed a secure attachment style toward the parent/owner, the cats did not express a secure attachment style - owners were more viewed as suppliers of resources.

 

[Gwenllian]

This is such a lovely thread, thank you. :)

I disagree that cats are inherently aloof and don't care about the people they adopt to care for them. I think sometimes they just choose any port in a storm, and make the best of it, or some might observe people and choose those who notice and feed them. But if their needs aren't met (basically, food and water) or if they are not treated with minimal respect, they'll leave, find another household, or go feral.

The author might be right that cats domesticated themselves, on their own terms, but they are also realists. They trade their skills with the people they adopt, to their mutual benefit, and they become attached.

I agree, cats do become attached. I also think that it depends on the human being how deep that attachment will be. If people understand the nature of cats as Buddy does I think cats will develop friendships and a bond with the people around them.
My kids somehow intuitively knew how to care for our Cat, because they observed her behaviour a lot and knew what she was like. I didn't and I was still learning until the day she died. In fact, my kids explained all kinds of things to me over the years and through them I started appreciating and loving our Cat a lot.
We loved her company and didn't expect anything in return, but she did return a lot, OSIT. She would follow us when we went out for a walk for instance or when we were in the garden.

House cats present their owners with mice to show they're earning their keep, and they are excellent sentries. Should someone approach their house, they will run inside, assuming they have a cat door, warning the owners, although some might head into a garage or barn instead. But still, if you are observant, you'll see it. I have cats, and I don't think that anyone can sneak up on me in my house, at least not when we're awake.

I observed the same thing.

Cats are out for themselves, but they also get attached to the people who care for them, and they express that by trading the pleasure of their company for clumsy human attempts to groom them, scratch their heads, behind their ears, their cheeks and under their chins. In return they sleep next to your head or by your feet in bed, jump on your desk and creep into your arms, curl up between you and your keyboard, and complain if you don't give them the respectful attention they demand.

That's why I loved our cat. I loved her autonomy and her dignity. But I also loved the friendship between her and my kids. That was such a beautiful gift and I still miss it.

I think cats long ago figured out that people need to love, and they decided to take advantage of it.

It's actually not a bad deal.

No, it isn't.
The reason why our Cat approached my kids in the first place was, because she needed the attention. I have met more cats in the street that will approach me and make contact and once a young cat/kitten wouldn't let my eldest leave by standing in front of his bike. :) So, maybe they have evolved, too? Or because as kittens they are removed from their mothers too early, which makes them crave love and attention?

 

[lostinself]

From my experience with dogs and cats - where dogs offer life-time love and unconditional devotion, cats give their conscious friendship and sincere gratitude. There's a fundemantal difference between these two attitudes. Often people don't recognize this difference and actually expect cats to be like dogs, to show compliance and devotion on every request, to favor their owners over other people anytime. This is the expected reward for what the cat has been given... but what sometimes it never really asked for.

It's true that the bond between a human and a cat can be harder to develop than in the case of dogs, but that's because cats are distrustful and cautious by nature, always looking for warning signs before getting into something. Also, they seem to dislike certain people for some, perhaps energetic/vibrational, reasons. Yet when the bond develops, it can be very deep and it's based on mutual self-respect and recognition of equality, rather than on typical attachment and devotion. When there's no real bond, then indeed cats tend to treat human in somewhat cold, utilitarian manner - maybe that's from where originates the myth of cats being indifferent and emotionally unresponsive.

Should someone approach their house, they will run inside, assuming they have a cat door, warning the owners, although some might head into a garage or barn instead. But still, if you are observant, you'll see it. I have cats, and I don't think that anyone can sneak up on me in my house, at least not when we're awake.

What i've observed about one of my cats (the more active one) is that he maintains in his cat mind a real-time auditory map of the whole apartment. Unless in a deep sleep, he has an almost constant awareness of what is currently going on in any of rooms, presumably by associating sounds with people and activities. If there's an unusual sound or if there's a sound in a room no one's in, he immediately gets intrigued and goes on to perform an inspection. And if a person unknown to him visits us, he disappears without even checking who just came in. At the same time, he's rather immune to sounds coming from the outside.

They found that, while children and dogs expressed a secure attachment style toward the parent/owner, the cats did not express a secure attachment style - owners were more viewed as suppliers of resources.

Cats rarely feel safe in foreign locations. What the experiment doesn't seem take into account is that when a cat feels in danger, its behavior can change completely. A scared cat becomes dominated by primal instincts that override higher brain functions. Often it wouldn't even recognize its owner at all in such situations.

But indeed, this particular cat, not being that scared, doesn't seem very attached to its owner. Perhaps the experimenter has a more "feline" aura of the two women.